Kings Quest returns and with it comes glory!
I grew up playing classic Sierra point and click games like Space Quest, Police Quest, and others. King’s Quest was another favorite of mine, so when Sierra announced they were releasing a new title in the franchise, my adventure heart swooned. I was worried if they would do the series justice, or if things would feel ultimately too different. I’m here to tell you, King Quest Chapter one surely delivers.
Players are King Graham, who is telling the story of his many adventures to his young granddaughter Gwendolyn. He narrates his tale and the players actively partake in the adventure, reliving key moments from his past. For the first tale, we find out just how Graham becomes a knight, and with hilarious results.
MSRP: $9.99 per episode
Platforms: XB1, PS4, PC
Price I’d Pay: $9.99
Multiplayer: NA
How long to beat: Five hours
The older King Quest games were point and click adventure games, and while the interface and style of gameplay is significantly changed here, it still retains the same feeling of exploration and puzzle solving. Controlling Graham is done so directly with the control stick, and anything he can interact with or view puts up an icon. It’s extremely suitable for this type of game, and the ease of controls will allow newcomers and veterans of the franchise to play with ease. That being said, the game also features some QTE’s, some first person bow shooting, minor platforming, and chase sequences.
Now, as described it might sound as if there isn’t much puzzle solving to do, and while there aren’t as many puzzles as vets would expect from a King Quest game, there is just enough and they are perfectly paced. The whole chapter has a great feeling of progression. Starting off fairly linear and then breaking into a more open ended style of exploration and figuring out what items needs to be required to solve the problems at hand, can easily provide those moments of getting stuck and those ultimate triumphs of finally figure it out.
Screenshots don’t do the game’s visuals justice either. Seeing Graham interact with environments and characters with its colorful cartoon style and animations make the screen come to life. The voice acting and dialog is hilarious, and will have players laughing throughout the entire duration of the chapter. Speaking of length, most episodic games last anywhere from one to two hours. King’s Quest lasts a good five hours, providing plenty of game time. The only issue with the game is the black screens of loading that are used for transition into other areas at times. It sadly takes players out of the experience, waiting for it to load, just staring at a screen with a spinning icon, no music or anything else to occupy yourself.
I could go on and on about how much I love Kings Quest, so I will. King’s Quest is the surprise hit of 2015 so far. Chapter one is filled with so many exciting moments, fun puzzles, hilarious characters, and a unique sense of awe and fantasy. I felt like I was in a wonderfully animated cartoon based on a classic series and I couldn’t stop smiling or laughing the entire time.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
